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Do you do this in your car?

I do it all the time. It’s quite paradoxical since I imposed a strict no-smoking rule in my studio apartment – I step out to the balcony if I feel like I need a nicotine infusion instead. However, I do smoke in my car and I usually have to leave the window down while driving to make the smell dissipate.

This creates more problems in itself since the haze and pollution in KL, combined with the emission from other vehicle exhausts enters your car.

Well you know how bad it can be but first let me tell you about this interesting workshop I attended.

It had me smelling ammonia voluntarily.

Haha. Read on.

It was the Sharp Plasmacluster Beauty Care event held at A Cut Above. The academy actually has a very interesting project by its students. Check it out:

It’s completely fictional of course, and it’s not Photoshopped – everything is done on set and photographed. I thought it was quite intriguing.

Back to the Sharp Plasmacluster Beauty Care range, they have six new products from the huge Plasmacluster Ion Generator to progressively more portable devices which you can fit on your desk, car and even your own body (Mobile Ion Generator) which you can hang on your neck via a lanyard.

Left to right:Plasmacluster Ion Generator – perfect for coverage up to 10m2 and you can tilt it and put it anywhere you want.Bedside Ion Generator – get quality sleep with 25,000 ions/cc. It also helps retain skin and hair moisture! It’s the tall device beside the black Plasmacluster Ion Generator.Desktop Ion Generator with Humidifying Function – this one comes with a water tank so it’ll release additional moisture. It can use a USB or AC adapter – well suited to your office or home desk I reckon.Ion Generator for Cars – this is what I’m using! It connects to the cigarette lighter socket in your car and deodorizes 30% faster when you boost it to Turbo mode. No more lingering tobacco smell!Mobile Ion Generator – this baby is small but powerful. It uses AC, USB or even a lithium ion battery and works for 4 hours!Hair Conditioning Dryer – moisturizes hair and removes static electricity. It also keeps moisture in and split ends out. Some discerning customers bring their own to hair salons!

The basics behind all this is explained to us by Mr Chew, which I found rather interesting. The bit that really caught my attention is the fact that people are naturally attracted to high ion concentration places in nature like waterfalls coz they induce serotonin production!

You know how much I love talking about serotonin. Heh.

Anyway, the principles behind Sharp’s Plasmacluster Ion Generators has been refined since 2000 to the device they have today which is capable of producing 25,000 ions/cc!

This is important as research has shown that cities like KL and other urban areas has only about 300 positively charged ions/cc and 100 negatively charged ions/cc while the nature which our healthier ancestors lived in has 4,000 positive and negative charged ions/cc. This is still evident in places like forests nowadays but we all know that’s a dwindling commodity.

Cheesie’s hair being violated. Demonstration of Cheesie’s hair after the hairdryer treatment.

The entire range of Sharp’s Plasmacluster Ion Generators is meant to restore that balance…and improve on it! Plasmacluster Ion Technology releases the very same ions that occurs in nature, which is then bonded with water molecules and delivered all over the place. Thus it not only produces massive amounts of ions, but also hydrates the skin and hair!

The ions turns into hydroxide when it comes into contact with contaminants, which effectively destroys it. It also removed bacteria, viruses, allergens, mold, odors and other pollutants and contaminants. It’s been tested and proven by various institutions around the world – from the US to Japan.

This is a perfect example which I luckily managed to film. Mr Chew demonstrated the effectiveness of Sharp’s Plasmacluster Ion Technology by soaking a tissue with pure ammonia and asking if anyone wants to smell it.

I naturally volunteered! :D

I smelled the tissue soaked with ammonia tentatively…

It smelled like a very popular public toilet frequented by renal failure patients that hasn’t been cleaned for a DECADE.

I was polite enough to say it smelled like hair bleach though. HAHAHA

The ammonia appears blue in color when exposed to the tissue. He then put it under the Plasmacluster Ion Generator for just a few seconds and the blue color turned into orange – thus removing the ammonia, and not only that, the odor disappeared as well!

Check it out! The process of the ammonia turning from blue to orange (clean). I know coz I smelled it after it was treated. Heh! :)

It’s magical! The smell of pure concentrated ammonia magically disappears after a few seconds under the ionizer.

That’s the wonderful odor busting properties it has, in addition to the moisturizing effects. It looks orange but that’s not coz of the ammonia – the ammonia stains it blue, and the blue has been removed by just a few seconds of the ion treatment. Awesome right?

I would even use it to wipe my face….IF I didn’t know it had been soaked in ammonia before the ionizer treatment. ;)

I figured that the best product for me is the Plasmacluster Ion Generator for Cars. I smoke in my car so I figured that I’ll take it for a test drive (no pun intended).

It’s very easy to use, just connect the device to the cigarette lighter socket in your car, and it’s ready to go.

You can set power levels too – from low to a mode called Turbo, which I immediately went for.

It actually emits moisturized air and ions – I was smelling it straight and got a good dose of nice clean ionized air.

I have put it in my car for several days now – it’s particularly nice at night since the illuminated LEDs allows you to see what the settings are and you can change the mode and levels if you want, just via a simple press of a button.

Did it work? I was already convinced when I watched and filmed that demonstration in the Sharp workshop but I wanted to try it out for myself.

I also have a bad tendency of eating in my car, and that emits odors as well. I did just that and smoked while driving back home with the Plasmacluster Ion Generator for Cars on Turbo mode.

There was no smell at all after 1 minute with the windows rolled up!

It’s not just for smokers too, the Sharp Plasmacluster technology purifies the air by:

Suppressing the effects of airborne viruses

Breaking down and removing airborne mold

Breaking down and removing allergens

Removing odors

…which creates fresh clean air and lock-in skin moisture! It’s something that every car needs so you won’t have to jump in fright when someone else sneezes just in case another outbreak of H1N1 occurs. It also makes your car environment a healthier place.

The design is awesome too – the Plasmacluster Ion Generator for Cars is shaped like a pint glass so you can put it in the drinks holder of your car. It’s aesthetically pleasing as as mentioned the illuminated LEDs are very useful at night.

Check out the Sharp Plasmacluster Beauty Care range for something that suits you – there’s even a model for your bedside so you can sleep in peace:

That’s why I don’t smoke *inside* my condo, despite having lived here for years. I’ve never broken that rule before – I always smoke *outside* at the small balcony with the windows shut.

It’s more for the ash though – I have two air conditioners and two fans running and if I use an ashtray and smoke inside my place, it’ll result in A LOT of ash going around, not to mention the eventual stale smell in such an enclosed environment.

I occasionally smoke in hotels (but seldom nowadays, like you mentioned, the stale smoke permeates the room and clothes) but I always smoke in my car so this is quite useful for me.

Yeah, I’m impressed they came out with something like this. It’s quite useful, it makes the air completely free of cigarette smoke within a minute on Turbo.

Nice, you have one of those large Plasmacutter Ion Generators for rooms? I’ve seen it during the event, it’s really quite useful, they showed us the ion readings before it was switched on and after it’s been running for a while.

I like it too, I wouldn’t mind getting one for my place, considering it’s a bit musty and dusty.

The humidifying function will be good too since I always have the air conditioning on.

Hi, I stumbled upon your blog when I was searching for tips for my upcoming Sri Lanka vacation. You write well with a good command of English. Your captions are funny. True; KL is a maelstrom of pollution. It gets worse when our ‘neighbours’ start their annual bonfires.
I was going to ask what you were thinking, smelling ammonia voluntarily; but I’ve read most of your vacation posts. LOL.
In a way, I admire your sense of adventure.
Keep on blogging!

Thanks for the kind comments, I really appreciate it when someone takes the trouble to say that. My English is not that great, I just write what “feels” right instead of knowing the actual technical stuff behind it e.g. nouns, past participle etc but still, thank you for saying so.

I’m glad that you found the Sri Lanka posts helpful, thanks for reading!

I’ll do more travel posts in the future, I still have a huge backlog to clear. :)

Heh! Yeah, it seems that you’ve read enough to know about my devil-may-care attitude. Thank you for saying so, it’s fun to travel and just do whatever you like instead of going on a tour.

Yeah, it’s really polluted over here, especially with the haze and all that, some self-created too by smoking in my car. Heh! Good thing this works.

Yup, this range of products would work perfectly for your needs – I know how it feels like, I have the air conditioning on all the time at my studio apartment too so it’s quite dry at all times and it can dry out the skin.

I reckon either the Plasmacluster Ion Generator (for larger coverage) or the Bedside Ion Generator would suit your needs.

Or you could just use both, the latter is more specialized, it helps retain moisture in the hair too, just like their hairdryer.

I think I am gonna check this out…hopefully the shops allow demo or else its quite pointless…but at least I contend myself that you have shared so your words will contribute a certain extent to our decision making…

Yeah, I think the shop will allow demos, most places I’ve been to have offered demos, or it’ll be quite pointless as you said.

It’s always better to see the product in action before you buy it. :)

What sold me was the ammonia test, I doubt they’ll have that in shops since ammonia is a dangerous chemical if not used properly, but you can gauge the effectiveness of the ionizer and the moisture retaining properties without it too.

The hairdryer I’ve seen is pretty impressive – they used a regular one on one side of Cheesie’s hair and the Plasmacluster one on the other and you can actually feel the difference.

Yeah, it’s very nifty eh? I thought it was rather useful for my car too. :)

I don’t smoke in my studio too – there’s just too many problems with that, even though I live alone, it’ll create a stale odor and all your clothes will smell like smoke too (my studio is small – 500 sq ft).

Heh! Yeah, a humidifier would be too bulky for a car.

They have specialized products for every place an occasion – I figured the car would suit my lifestyle better, although one in my house would be nice too.

It’s pretty cool eh? I like the Turbo function, that gets rid of cigarette smoke (or food, or any other odors in your car) very quickly!

Sharp was kind enough to provide me the one in my car, they have a wide range and the one for cars suits me better. They gave it out according to lifestyle, some got hairdryers, some got ion generators etc.

They also had a lucky draw for people who went to the workshop too, which I didn’t win but several other bloggers did – Isaac won one, it’s the large one that’s at the back of the 5th picture.

It’s about the same size as a Starbucks tumbler too (slightly bigger) so you can put it in your car. It’s meant to be put at the cup holder of cars so every car should be able to place this, no problems.

Haha! I’ve been trying to cut down and quit most other vices already. I’ve been smoking for half my life – since I was 15, er…that means slightly more than half my life – gotta make a decision to quit soon. It’s an expensive habit too, despite the taxes not being raised (for the first time in ages) during Budget 2013.

Yeah, it’s a really nifty gadget to have – not just for smoking, but for all odors and viruses – no worries if someone sneezes in the close confines of a car – that’s how flu gets transmitted usually (for me at least), close proximity and recycled air like cars, planes and other mass transport systems.

This would solve the problem of viruses spreading with its filter too!

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